I N A U G U R A L
R E S E A R C H
P A P E R
Moving Closer or Drifting Apart?
Assessing the State of Public Opinion
on the U.S.-Canada Relationship
Cameron D. Anderson
Laura B. Stephenson
Department of Political Science
The University of Western Ontario
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
Executive Summary
The United States and Canada share a special relationship. Forged through geographic proximity, the relationship spans
economic, trade, security, foreign policy, culture and environmental sectors. The intent of this study is to uncover, explore and
ultimately to understand the nature of public opinion within Canada and the United States regarding the relationship. We
focus on individual-level interaction with the other country and appraise the nature of aggregate opinion on key policies areas
which are central to the relationship. The data analyzed in this report come from a new survey of Americans and Canadians
conducted in early 2010. Stepping beyond what is oft-reported, we focus on both attitudes toward integration as well as the
specific policy-relevant components of the relationship. The findings of this study suggest a number of key conclusions. Americans generally have a positive view of the Canadian
government and US relations with Canada but are overall less personally integrated with Canada than Canadians are with
the United States. By contrast, Canadians have a more differentiated view of the US government and Canada’s relations with
it – many Canadians hold positive views but many also view it negatively. Our findings also suggest that citizens on both
sides of the border are largely satisfied with the relationship as it exists, and that opinions are only slightly affected by one’s
familiarity with the other country. When it comes to which issues facing the relationship are most important, the responses in
both countries are surprisingly similar. The clear direction of opinion in both countries is for greater government involvement
on the most important issues (the economy, free trade, border security, environment and energy) facing the relationship. On
these issues, the balance of opinion in Canada and the United States is that the Canadian government is out-performing the
American one. Regardless of the distribution of these opinions or perhaps because of them, Canadians overwhelmingly view
the United States as having a significant influence on the policies directions chosen by the Canadian government. Finally, to
our great surprise, many Americans attribute important influence to the Canadian government on policy direction.
Our data suggest that policy-makers and legislators in Canada and the United States should be aware of what citizens feel
about Canada-US relations and take these into account when negotiating policy. In Canada, citizens are watching closely for
such policy developments, and evaluate them critically. On the other side of the border, one of the most interesting findings in
this study is that Americans expect the Canadian government to have influence over their own. Coupled with a more positive
evaluation of Canadian government action and policy, the extent of influence attributed to Canada may well indicate an
important source of policy direction and a comparative benchmark for evaluation. The results of this study present a comprehensive picture of opinion on the relationship and provide some key and
possibly surprising insights into perceptions of the relationship. As the inaugural report of The University of Western
Ontario’s new Canada US Institute, we believe that the findings and resulting discussion provide the kind of policy-relevant
and timely insight on important features of the US-Canada relationship which serves as the Institute’s founding mandate. Contents
Acknowledgements.......................................................................................................................2
I. Introduction...............................................................................................................................3
II. Personal Integration and Attitudes toward US-Canada Relations....................................4
Familiarity and Personal Integration with “The Other”..................................................5
Preferences over Further Integration..................................................................................6
Does Familiarity Breed Support for Integration?.............................................................6
III. Public Policy and Implications for US-Canada Relations................................................7
The Economy.........................................................................................................................9
Free Trade............................................................................................................................ 10
Border Security................................................................................................................... 12
The Environment................................................................................................................ 13
Energy Resources............................................................................................................... 14
IV. Discussion............................................................................................................................. 15
IV. Conclusion............................................................................................................................ 17
Notes............................................................................................................................................. 19
References.................................................................................................................................... 20
Appendix..................................................................................................................................... 21
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CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
Acknowledgements
I. Introduction
This study was made possible through generous funding provided by Dr. Ted Hewitt, Vice-President (Research and
International Relations) at The University of Western Ontario. We would also like to acknowledge the enthusiastic support of
Dr. Amit Chakma, President of The University of Western Ontario. We thank our colleagues from the Department of Political
Science, including Don Abelson, Peter Ferguson, John McDougall and Bob Young, whose generosity with their time and expertise helped us produce this study and the survey on which it is based. Finally, we are grateful for the support and assistance
of Louise Gadbois and Christine Wall.
The United States and Canada share a special
relationship. Forged through geographic proximity, the
relationship spans economic, trade, security, foreign policy,
cultural and environmental sectors. The intent of this
study is to uncover, explore and ultimately to understand
the nature of public opinion within Canada and the United
States regarding the relationship. We focus on individuallevel interaction with the other country and appraise the
nature of aggregate opinion on key policies areas which
are central to the relationship. The results present a
comprehensive picture of opinion on the relationship and
provide some key and possibly surprising insights into
perceptions of the relationship. As the inaugural research
paper of The University of Western Ontario’s new Canada
US Institute, we believe that the findings and resulting
discussion contained within this study provide the kind of
policy-relevant and timely insight on important features of
the US-Canada relationship which serves as the Institute’s
founding mandate. The relationship between Canada and the United States
has always been unique. The countries are geographic
neighbours, share resources and much culture as well as
the longest undefended border of any two countries in the
world. The US and Canada are each other’s largest trading
partners: recent data indicate that 19.4% of American
exports and 77.7% of Canadian exports went to the other
country and 14.4% of American imports and 52.4% of
Canadian imports came from the other country.1 The
United States is the top travel destination of Canadians by
far while Americans prefer travel to Canada only second
to Mexico.2 The amount of goods and number of people
that cross the border each day is astonishing, and policy
decisions made in either country can have a dramatic effect
on the cross-border traffic. The relationship between the two countries is longstanding, complex and multi-faceted; the relationship is
such that much of the closeness can be taken for granted,
but it is rarely forgotten. As John F. Kennedy put it, when he
addressed the Canadian Parliament in 1961, “Geography has
made us neighbors. History has made us friends. Economics
has made us partners. And necessity has made us allies.
Those whom nature hath so joined together, let no man put
asunder.”3
Yet, for all the closeness between the two countries, the
American-Canadian political relationship is far from a stable
affair. Depending on the political leaders and the political
climate, relations can be closer or more distant, pleasant or
strained. Consider, for example, the differences between
the camaraderie that existed between Brian Mulroney and
Ronald Reagan, or golfing partners Jean Chretien and Bill
Clinton, and the hostility between Lyndon Johnston and
Lester Pearson or Richard Nixon and Pierre Trudeau. On the economic front, strain tends to become most
prominent when the interests of domestic actors, such
as lumber producers, cattle farmers or manufacturers,
are affected by agreements between the two countries. When cross-border relations negatively impact citizens
the pressures on politicians to “fix it” can be intense. A
recent example occurred in light of the “Buy American”
provisions contained within the economic stimulus plan
of the United States government. On the Canadian side of
the border, the conditions on spending and procurement
deeply concerned many involved in cross-border production
who realized the potential impact of mandated country of
origin rules, and led to strong calls for government action.
However, at a recent meeting of Canadian premiers and
American governors, it was obvious that economic issues
can clearly have a positive impact on the relationship as well. Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty argued that “[t]here is
a very large need for Canadian crude [oil] in Minnesota”
(Globe and Mail, February 20, 2010) and indicated that
he was against any moves on the part of the American
government to enact policies that worked against Canadian
oil producers.
In the realm of foreign policy, Canada’s decisions not
to take part in the wars in Vietnam and Iraq were both
contentious. President Lyndon Johnson was reportedly
furious when Prime Minister Lester Pearson refused to
commit Canadian troops in the Vietnam conflict. The
decision to not join in the American invasion of Iraq after
September 11 was also a point of disagreement. This
disagreement led President George W. Bush to suggest a
policy that would prevent non-active allies, such as Canada,
from receiving Iraqi reconstruction contracts. These kinds
of disagreements do little to strengthen the relationship, and
an issue in one sector can have significant spill-over effects
into other aspects of the relationship. Richter (2009: 2)
argues that “the bilateral defence relationship is essentially
a barometer of the larger political one, and a decline in the
former is normally reflective of a weakening in the latter.”
A less obvious but no less important influence on the
nature of the cross-border relationship is public opinion.
On both sides of the border, how citizens feel toward the
other country (and the relationship with it) can influence
the positions and nature of political interaction between the
two countries. A significant body of work demonstrates the
importance and relationship between public opinion and
public policy (for example, Erikson, MacKuen and Stimson
2002; Soroka and Wlezien 2004, 2009; Stimson 2004;
Wlezien 1995). Broadly speaking, with varying methods
and measures, the scholarly literature finds that there is a
positive relationship and a ‘fit’ between public opinion on
matters of public policy and the nature of public policy as
crafted by government. As such, if politicians are responsive
to their citizens, as many scholars have documented, then
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CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
there is good reason to believe that citizen opinions should
and will affect a government’s policy choices as they relate
to all aspects of close neighbors like Canada and the United
States.
As much as it has the potential to affect ties between
Canada and the US, the exact nature of Canadian and
American public opinion on the relationship is not well
understood. None of the information about the extent
of the trading relationship, the closeness of elites or the
disputes among producers tells us what average Canadians
and Americans think about the relationship between the
United States and Canada. How does this close relationship
on paper manifest itself at the individual level? Knowing
that citizen attitudes can influence policy decisions, this
question is of fundamental importance, especially if, as
Eagles et al. (2009: 1) indicate, attitudes toward closer ties
differ significantly between average Canadians and those in
the “chattering classes.” Opinion polls on the relationship
are common, at least emerging from Canada, but they
tend to be used to report snapshots of specific and narrow
elements of the relationship. For example, a headline in
The National Post on February 11, 2004 read: “Canadians
want Harmonized US-Canada Security Policy (poll: 7 out
of 10 favour)”, and one in The Globe and Mail on March 25,
2003 read: “Canadians seek closer ties with U.S., poll says
(Liberal party pollster: 90% favour improved relations).” Headlines in major US papers, like the New York Times, are
much rarer.4 Despite cursory attention to public opinion
on the relationship, few scholarly studies have examined
the relationship in recent years (for a notable exception, see
Eagles et al. 2009), and it is not often that analysis delves
into the nature of opinions and the issues that structure the
attitudes.
In this study, we address this situation by taking an
in-depth look at the attitudes that Americans and Canadians
hold about their cross-border relationship. The data analyzed
in this report come from a new survey of Americans and
Canadians conducted in early 2010.5 Stepping beyond what
is oft-reported, we focus on both attitudes toward integration
as well as the specific policy-relevant components of the
relationship. First, we consider underlying attitudes about
the relationship and further integration as well as establish a
baseline of citizen familiarity with the other country. Second,
we explore the issues that citizens consider most important
to the relationship. Finally, we assess those issues identified
by respondents as being most important through appraising
opinions on domestic and comparative evaluations of
government performance. In so doing, we develop a
nuanced understanding of how the Canada-US relationship
is seen by individuals on both sides of the border and
conclude with commentary about what opinion on the future
of the relationship means in terms of specific policy areas. MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
II. Personal Integration and
Attitudes Toward US-Canada
Relations
To begin our investigation into public opinion about
the Canada-US relationship, we first seek to understand
the overall impressions of the relationship that citizens
hold in each country. In Figure 1, we graph the responses
to an initial question that asked, “How would you describe
relations between Canada and the United States?”
Figure
1:
Descriptions
of
Canada­US
Relationship
64%
61%
28%
20%
11%
0%
0%
1%
0%
Hostile
Unfriendly
15%
Acquaintances
Friends
but
not
Best
of
friends
close
Canadians
Americans
Reflecting the enduring closeness of the relationship,
a majority of respondents in both countries described
Figure
2:
Evaluation
of
Canada­US
Integration
the relationship in positive terms. In our samples, 64%
46%
of Canadians42%
said they would
as
41%
41%
describe the relationship
“friends, but not close”, compared to 61% of Americans. A
further 15% of Canadians thought the relationship was like
“best of18%
friends”, and a comparatively greater number12%
of
Americans thought that this was an accurate description
(28%). In contrast, 1% of Canadians and 0.3% of Americans
describedGood
the relationship asNeither
unfriendly or openlyBad
hostile.
The tight relationship that President Kennedy spoke of in
Canadians
1961 is clearly still perceived
todayAmericans
by citizens. All diplomatic relationships have ups and downs,
however, and changes in the political climate can have real
effects on the closeness (perceived and policy) between
countries. To gain a sense of the direction that Americans
and Canadians see the cross-border relationship taking, we
asked our respondents to indicate their retrospective and
prospective views of relations between the US and Canada. We used a 5 year timeline for both evaluations. In Canada,
the retrospective period begins with 1 year of a Liberal
government followed by 4 years of a Conservative one. In
the United States, the period includes 4 years of a Republican
president and 1 year of a Democratic one. In both countries, a majority of respondents indicated
that relations had stayed “about the same” over the past 5
years. The percentage was particularly high in the United
States (78% vs. 53% in Canada). Interestingly, more
Canadians and Americans felt the relationship had gotten
worse than had gotten better. Of our American respondents,
12% indicated relations had gotten worse, compared to 10%
who thought relations had improved. Among Canadians,
27% responded “gotten worse” compared to 20% who
responded “gotten better”. While the patterns are similar,
the Canadians responses are more evenly spread across
positive, negative and neutral responses, suggesting that
Canadians have a more differentiated view of the CanadaUS relationship than Americans.
Turning to the prospective evaluations, once again a
majority of respondents in each country see the relationship
staying the same (59% of Canadians and 72% of Americans). However, the future of the relationship seems more positive
than negative – 31% of Canadians and 25% of Americans
think the relationship will get better in the next 5 years
compared with only 10% of Canadians and 3% of Americans
who believe it will worsen. We cannot say definitively, but
one possible reason for the difference in retrospective and
prospective evaluations may be the change in executive
leadership in the United States. George W. Bush did not
have a close relationship with the Canadian government,
centrally disagreeing over foreign policy (such as Iraq)
and various trade related issues. Barack Obama, on the
other hand, has proven to be very popular in Canada. For
example, Maclean’s magazine reported on “Canada’s love
affair with Barack Obama” on February 13, 2009, citing polls
that indicated an 82% approval rating among Canadians.
Perhaps, then, the change in Presidential leadership has led
citizens on both sides of the border to foresee an improved
relationship in the near future.
Familiarity and Personal Integration with
“The Other”
As the earlier quote from President Kennedy’s 1961
speech indicates, much of the relationship between
Americans and Canadians is based on the geographic
proximity of the two countries. Certainly this is an
undisputable fact – but just being neighbours does not
make people friends. From our above analysis, it is
clear that Americans and Canadians do consider each
other to be friends – often quite close ones – but such a
measure does not indicate how familiar they are with each
other. In a 1974 study of public opinion toward United
States-Canada relations, Sigler and Goresky found that
“inter-societal relations (economic ties and travel) were
perceived as more salient than interstate relations (leaders
and defence) in understanding the closer integration of the
two countries.”(pp. 641-2). Understanding the extent of
intersocietal relations, and the nature of the “friendship”,
then, is key to appreciating citizen attitudes toward relations
between the two countries.
We probed how integrated with the other country
our pools of respondents are socially, personally and
economically. In particular, we asked about the incidence
and number of family or friends in the other country, the
amount of time spent in the other country, and the extent
to which income is dependent upon trading or business
relations with the other country . First, on the social
dimension, our survey data indicate that a majority of
US respondents (75%) report having no family members
or friends who live in Canada. By contrast, only 38% of
Canadian respondents indicated having no family or friends
in the US. While 20% of our American sample indicated
that they had between 1 and 5 family members or friends
across the border, the comparable Canadian value is
36%. Most interesting, however, is that 16% of Canadians
reported having more than 10 friends or family members
in the United States as compared to just 2% of Americans. Perhaps, given that the vast majority of Canadians live close
to the US-Canada border, this difference is not surprising,
but nonetheless it suggests that there is a much higher
degree of personal integration on the part of Canadians with
the United States than vice versa. The second aspect of integration we investigated was
time spent in the other country. One’s level of comfort
and familiarity with another country can be based on how
often they have visited and had the opportunity to develop
an impression. The response results indicate a similar
pattern to that for knowing people in the other country. A
majority of Canadians (55%) said they visited the United
States occasionally. While 38% of Americans respondents
indicated occasional visits to Canada, fully 32% said they
had never visited Canada at all. By contrast only 4% of
Canadians respondents had never visited the United States. As mentioned above, these results are not surprising given
geographic distance and travel circumstances in each
country, but they also suggest that familiarity with the other
country is much higher in Canada than in the US.
Finally, we considered whether citizens might be
familiar with the other country due to the perception that
the source and stability of their income was dependent upon
business or trading relations with the other country. Due
to the volume of cross-border business, it would not be
surprising to find that many citizens feel dependent upon
trade or business relations between the two countries for
their own livelihood. Among Americans in our sample, the
majority indicated their income was not very or not at all
dependent on Canada (73%). However, 24% thought they
were somewhat dependent, and 2% suggested that their
income was very dependent upon the relationship. The
comparable responses among Canadians paint a somewhat
different picture on the other side of the border. A bare
majority of Canadians believe their incomes are not very
(23%) or not at all (28%) dependent on relations with the US
while 33% think their incomes are somewhat dependent and
17% believe they are very dependent. 5
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CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
Taken together, the results presented thus far suggest
that Canadians are more familiar with the United States than
Americans are familiar with Canada. The greater familiarity
and personal integration of Canadians with the United States
than vice versa carries across different substantive areas –
personal, social and economic. However, and most importantly, the lower level of familiarity and personal integration
on the part of Americans does not seem to have created a
more critical impression of the nature of the relationship, as
more Americans than Canadians described the relationship
in friendly terms. Preferences over Further Integration
Given the patterns of attitudes toward and familiarity
with the other country, it is interesting to consider how
further political and economic integration of the two
countries is viewed by citizens on both sides of the border. If,
as Sigler and Goresky (1974) suggest, inter-societal relations
are important for support for further integration, then the
greater familiarity of Canadians with the United States
than vice versa might lead to greater support for further
integration on the northern side of the border. Before asking about the future, however, we asked our
Figure
1:
Descriptions
of
Canada­US
Relationship
respondents in the United States and Canada to give an
64%
61%
country. The
overall evaluation of integration with the other
results are shown in Figure 2, and are somewhat surprising
given the overall similarity of responses across countries
in the other questions we have analyzed. The number28%
of
20%
15%
– 42%
Americans who see integration11%
positively is fairly high
of our
– 1%
while
0%
the proportion of Canadians who share
0%
sample
0%
the same opinion is comparatively low – 18%. On the whole,
Hostile
Unfriendly
Acquaintances
Friends
but
not
Best
of
friends
Canadians
are much
more negative about
integration. The
close
same percentage of Canadians view integration negatively as
Canadians
Americans
see it neutrally (41%) while
only 12%
of Americans see US- Canada integration as a “bad” thing. Figure
2:
Evaluation
of
Canada­US
Integration
42%
46%
41%
41%
18%
12%
Good
Neither
Canadians
Bad
Americans
It might be expected, then, that a more negative view
of integration would lead to demand for a weakening of
the relationship in the future. Certainly this could have
political implications – if integration is seen as a bad thing,
then in the future politicians might be pressured to reduce
their ties with the other country. The data do not bear out
these expectations – it appears that these attitudes do not
carry over into strong preferences for future changes in the
relationship. Of all the Canadians surveyed, 55% would like
to see political and economic ties stay about the same in the
next 5 years; a similar percentage (52%) share the attitude in
the United States. Only 25% of Canadians would like to see
less integration while 21% would prefer more integration. This pattern holds even among the 41% of Canadians
who believe integration with the United States is a “bad”
thing. Of this group, only 14% think that the relationship
should become ‘less integrated’, 62% think that the nature
of integration should ‘stay about the same’ and 24% prefer
‘more integration’. American attitudes on future integration
are more positive overall – 41% would like to see more
integration, compared to only 6% who would like to see less. These results suggest that Canadians and Americans
see the close ties between their countries slightly differently. In Canada, a “glass half empty” view seems to exist, one
that is closer to negative attitudes and slightly less in favour
of further integration. Americans seem to have a more
positive view of the relationship, both of integration in
general and support for integration in the future. However,
overwhelmingly the public on both sides of the border is in
favour of maintaining the same level of integration, perhaps
suggesting that the status quo is, if not a “good” thing, at least
bearable.
Does Familiarity Breed Support for
Integration?
The results, shown in Figure 3, suggest that familiarity
has a positive influence on attitudes about current CanadaUnited States integration, at least for Canadians.6 High
familiarity and personal integration seems to result in a
more positive view of integration – those exhibiting greater familiarity are less neutral and more positive.
III. Public Policy and Implications
for US-Canada Relations
Figure
3:
Evaluation
of
US­Canada
Integration
by
Familiarity
with
Other
Country
41%
48%
44%
46%
38%
38%
43%
to when they thinking about the “relationship”. In the next
section, we probe more deeply into understanding what
Americans and Canadians see as the major issues facing the
two countries’ relationship, and what they think about the
direction that those particular issues should take. 39%
23%
Clearly there are many policy issues of central
importance to the US-Canada relationship. Many questions
Good
Neither
Bad
in our survey seek to tap public opinion on what the most
important issues are and how respondents believe that both
Canadians
with
low
familiarity
Canadians
with
high
familiarity
the Canadian and American governments are performing on
Americans
with
low
familiarity
Americans
with
high
familiarity
these issues. Our discussion proceeds by identifying those
issues of greatest importance to the Canada-US relationship
Canadian
attitudes about future integration are also
Figure
4:
Most
Important
Issue
Facing
Canada­US
Relations
before elaborating the nuances of public opinion on each of
(1st
and
2nd
mentions)
significantly affected by familiarity
with the United States. Figure
3:
Evaluation
of
US­Canada
Integration
by
these issues.
Among
those who are more familiar, support for greater
50%
50%
Familiarity
with
Other
Country
The first step is to identify what Canadian and
integration in the future is about 25%, compare to 16%
38%
American
respondents feel are the most important issues
for those with less
31%
familiarity. In sum, our data suggest
48%
46%
25%
25%
24%
24%
24%
facing
the
Canada-US
relationship. We asked respondents
44%
with the
43%
that personal, social and17%
economic
familiarity
41%
19%
39%
38%
17%
38%
16%
to
rank
in
importance
nine
different issues which can be
13%
11%
other country is a positive factor
7%
increasing
7%
support for
4%
grouped
under
the
headings
economic (economy, free
integration amongst23%
Canadians. Knowing more about the
trade
and
business
climate),
security
and terrorism (border
12%
14%
other country, 13%
on a personal level, seems to lead to positive
security,
Afghanistan,
Iraq)
and
domestic
(energy resources,
attitudes about closer ties.
environment
and
health
care). The
results
for combined
In this section we have concentrated on painting,
first
and
second
mentions
are
reported
in
Figure
4. Of
with broad strokes, a picture
the
Good
of public opinion toward
Neither
Bad
the
issues
presented,
32%
of
Canadian
respondents
and
Canada-US relationship. WhileCanadians
we have found
that overall
Americans
31%
of
American
respondents
chose
the
economy
as
the
attitudes are positive, Canadians
with
low
familiarity
and those attitudes are partly shaped
Canadians
with
high
familiarity
most
important
policy
issue
facing
Canada-US
relations. by
one’s experience with the other country, we do not know
Americans
with
low
familiarity
Americans
with
high
familiarity
Exhibiting the depth of concern
anything about what Americans and Canadians are referring
for the economy, a further
12%
14%
13%
Figure
4:
Most
Important
Issue
Facing
Canada­US
Relations
(1st
and
2nd
mentions)
To conclude this section, we consider whether
familiarity and personal integration with the other country
(social, personal and economic) has an impact on how
integration is viewed. Does being more familiar with the
other country mean an American or Canadian is more or
less likely to support integration? To consider this question,
we created an index of familiarity and personal integration
by standardizing our questions about friends and family,
travel and income dependence into 3 point scales and then
adding them to create a 9 point variable. We then divided
our sample according to the respondent’s position on this
variable; those who scored 4 or higher on the scale are
considered to have ‘high familiarity’. Finally, we considered
the frequencies of responses to the integration questions
separately for each subset of the data to see if familiarity
influenced attitudes toward integration.
50%
50%
38%
31%
17%
13%
11%
7%
25%
24%
24%
25%
24%
19%
17%
16%
7%
4%
Canadians
Americans
7
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CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
19 percent of Canadian respondents and 18% of Americans
feel that the economy was the second most important issue. Taken together, these results suggest that about half of all
respondents in both countries believe that the economy is the
first or second most important issues facing the relationship a remarkably similar level of concern. The second policy issue also garnering a significant level
of attention is free trade. Amongst Canadian respondents,
38% feel that this issue is either the first or second most
important issue facing the Canada-US relationship. Although not quite as high, 31% of American respondents
believe that free trade is the first or second most important
issue facing the relationship. Considering the economy and
free trade areas together, it becomes evident that economic
issues are the major focus for American and Canadian
respondents collectively. In light of the global recession and
the specific domestic impacts in Canada and the United
States, this may not be surprising but these results do indicate
how absolutely central economic concerns are in the minds
of Canadians and Americans.
Of the security and terrorism issues that we consider,
border security is easily the most important. Among
American respondents, 25% indicate border security as the
first or second most important issue facing the Canada-US
relationship. A similar proportion of Canadian respondents
(24%) chose the issue of border security as the first or second
most important issue. In both countries, border security
clearly outpaces the importance of either of the wars in
Afghanistan (mentioned by 7% of Canadians and11% of
Americans) or Iraq (mentioned by 4% of Canadians and 7%
of Americans).
Of the domestic policy issues which were assessed
as important to the Canada-US relationship, energy
resources and the environment are collectively rated as
most important. In both countries, just under a quarter
of respondents indicated energy resources are the first or
second most important issue (25% in Canada and 24% in
the US). Given both countries’ dependence on and demand
for energy, the relative importance of energy should not be
surprising at all. The second domestic issue of interest is
the environment. While 25% of Canadian respondents feel
that the environment is the first or second most important
issue facing Canada-US relations, only 17% of American
respondents agree. The difference is largely made up
from the greater number of Canadians indicating that the
environment is the (first) most important issue as compared
to Americans (14% and 7%, respectively).
Collectively, two broad conclusions can be derived from
these data. The first is that, on the whole, Canadian and
American respondents are remarkably similar in the extent
of importance that they assign to policy issues facing the
US-Canada relationship. The only clear, although subtle,
differences are on free trade (where more Canadians believe
that the issue is important compared to Americans, although
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
both countries agree on the relative importance of the issue)
and the environment (where Canadians think the issue is a
bit more important compared to Americans). The second
broad conclusion is that economic issues (the economy
and free trade) appear to trump all other issues facing the
US-Canada relationship in the minds of respondents. In
the next sections, we delve further into the attitudes that lie
behind these “most important issues” for Americans and
Canadians to develop a better sense of what direction the
public would like the Canada-US relationship to take in these
issue domains.
Figure
5:
Most
Important
Issue
Facing
Canada
and
United
States
56%
52%
47%
48%
41%
38%
38%
29%
14%
14%
11%
The Economy
Among the policy issues facing Canada-US relations,
the economy consistently rises to the position of the most
important issue facing the relationship. To delve into this
issue further, we consider the distribution of responses to a
question on the most important issue facing each of Canada
and the United States domestically among those who say
that the economy was the first or second most important
issue facing the Canada-US relationship. In essence, we want
to determine whether those who say the economy is most
important for the relationship also believe that the economy
is the most important domestic issue.7 Because we asked the
same questions of respondents in both countries, we are able
to report Canadians’ views of the most important issue in
Canada and the US as well as Americans’ views for Canada
and the US (see Figure 5).
Among those Canadians who say that the economy was
the first or second most important issue facing US-Canada
relations, 47% thought that the economy is the most important issue facing Canada, followed by unemployment (11%)
and taxes (4%). All other issues together comprised 38% of
responses. A strong majority (over 60%) of Canadians who
thought that the economy was a very important issue in Canada-US relations also cited economic issues as being important in the domestic sphere. Asked about policy issues facing
Canada, just under half (48%) of American respondents, who
indicated a first or second response of the economy, thought
that the economy or economic related issues were the most
important issues facing Canada.
Turning attention to the American case, among American respondents who think that the economy is the first or
second most important issue facing Canada-US relations,
56% believe that the economy is the most important issue facing the US followed by unemployment (14%) and
gas prices and taxes (both 1%). Clearly a strong majority
(over 70%) of those who respond that the economy is a very
important issue in Canada-US relations carry their concern
regarding economic issues into the domestic sphere. Compared to American respondents, Canadians were somewhat
less likely to indicate that economic issues were the most
9
4%
All
other
issues
Economy
Canadians
on
Canada
Unemployment
Canadians
on
US
0%
0%
1%
1%
Gas
prices
Americans
on
US
4%
0%
1%
2%
Taxes
Americans
on
Canada
Figure
6:
How
much
should
the
Canadian
important ones facing the United
States (62%).
Taking opinions on the Canadian government’s hangovernment
do
about
improving
the
economy?
Taken together, these
findings suggest that for many
dling of the economy first (Figure 6), there are clear differrespondents strong concern for the economic aspects of
ences between American and Canadian respondents. While
78%
the US-Canada relationship is matched by the salience of
a similar
proportion of respondents in each country (2 and
economic issues when assessing the domestic situation in
4%) believe that less should be done on the economy file,
each country. What this finding tends to suggest is that51%
the
almost 78% of Canadians hold that the Canadian governeconomy is not an issue unique to one venue or the other but
ment should do46%
more for the economy. This stands in stark
that the concern for and salience of the economy pervades
contrast to only 46% of American respondents who think
views of one’s own country as well as the relationship
that the Canadian
government should do more for the
20%
with
Figure
5:
Most
Important
Issue
Facing
Canada
and
United
States
the other country. It might also suggest that because of its
economy. Clearly, Canadians
feel that much more should be
56%
4%
52%
domestic salience, the2%
issue has
perceived bilateral salience. done for the Canadian
economy
as compared to Americans. 48%
However, it is interesting to consider what “the economy”
This could reflect a47%
few things: first,
Canadians could simply
41%
38%
38%
means in a cross-border sense. What
are the policies
that
be more
aware
of what is being done domestically and thereless
same
more
the Canadian and American governments should work on to
fore perceive
29%
greater need, and second, Americans could
improve this issue? Are there any? Or, is the
importanceAmericans
of
perceive the Canadian economy as doing better than the
Canadians
of needing
the issue merely a reflection of the importance of the econoAmerican economy, to the point
14%
14%
less government
11%
my overall, and one that can only be solved at the domestic
assistance on the issue. Of course, there is 4%
also the possibil4%
0%
1%
1%
0%
1%
2%
level? Unfortunately, our data do not allow us to ascertain
ity that Americans could be aware of the greater 0%
government
the answer, but we can suggest that this is a potential reason
involvement
in the economy
in Canada
and think that
it is
All
other
issues
Economy
Unemployment
Gas
prices
Taxes
for the overwhelming agreement on the importance of the
not something that needs to be increased. Canadians
on
Canada
Canadians
on
US
Americans
on
US
Americans
on
Canada
economy to Canada-US relations. Regardless of the reason, we have established that the
Figure
6:
How
much
should
the
Canadian
economy is the central issue of concern among our respongovernment
do
about
improving
the
economy?
dents both in the context of the US-Canada relationship and
78%
of domestic politics in each country. With so much interest,
attention and concern associated with the economy, we now
51%
turn to consider opinion on how much should be done for
46%
the economy, how much influence each country exerts on
20%
the other with respect to the economy, and which country
4%
2%
is doing a better job managing the economy. We focus on
these questions in order to get an idea of what Americans
less
same
more
and Canadians expect their governments to do on this issue,
Canadians
Americans
such as working together or acting unilaterally. 10
CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
Figure
7:
How
much
should
the
American
government
do
about
improving
the
economy?
83%
Figure
7:
How
much
should
the
American
government
do
about
improving
the
economy?
83%
4%
11%
less
13%
Canadians
80%
10%
same
80%
Canadian government on the economy. Almost 26% of
respondents believe that the American government was
not at all influenced by Canada on the economy. However,
and perhaps a little surprising,
just over 41% of American
13%
11%
10%
4%
respondents
feel Canada exerts somewhat or a lot of
influence on American policymaking in the context of the
less
same
more
economy. This may suggest a latent view in the minds of
Americans
many Americans that Canadians
other countries
do have an influence
on the actions of the American government. more
Figure
8:
Which
country
is
doing
a
better
job
on
the
economy?
Americans
Considering the American economy, the distributions
Figure
8:
Which
country
is
doing
a
better
job
on
are broadly similar: boththe
economy?
American (80%) and Canadian
(83%) respondents overwhelmingly think that more should
67%
be done for the American economy
59%
(see Figure 7). Despite
record deficit and debt levels currently experienced by the
American government, the demand for continued and
28%
27%
strengthened government involvement in the American
13%
economy6%
appears insatiable. Of interest, is the comparatively
greater demand of Americans for more to be done on their
Same
Canada
economy asUS
compared to expectations
of government
action
on the Canadian economy. There
is
a
small
but
evident
Canadians
Americans
minority (10.5%) of American respondents who believe that
less should be done for the American economy. The
difference between Canadian and American attitudes
may also reflect the greater comfort of Canadians with
government activism. However and perhaps reflecting
the magnitude of the US economic crisis, it is important
to note that similar numbers of Americans and Canadians
see the American economy as needing further government
assistance. That being said, is there any indication that citizens
think the country across the border can be influential in
their government’s handling of the economy? To assess
respondents’ views on the relationship between Canada and
the US we posed a question asking respondents to rate the
relative influence of each country on the other in each of the
policy areas under consideration. Answers to this question
provide us with an indication of how important respondents
believe the other country is in affecting government policy
on important issues affecting the Canada-US relationship. In the context of the economy, the distribution of responses
is fascinating if predictable. While less than 5% of
Canadians indicate that the Canadian government is ‘not
at all’ influenced by the US on the economy, over 85% of
Canadian respondents think that the US has somewhat or a
lot of influence on Canada’s actions regarding the economy. This is a massive number and indicates the perception of
vast US influence in the policy directions of the Canadian
government on the economy. On the same question, American respondents
attributed, relatively speaking, much less influence to the
67%
59%
28%
27%
13%
6%
US
Same
Canadians
Canada
deem this issue was the first or second most important issue
facing the Canada-US relationship. It is the collective views
on free trade that we now consider.
Before delving into the nuances of perception and
evaluation of government action on the issue, we first
consider what opinion on free trade between Canada and
the US does or perhaps should mean (see Figure 9). First,
in response to a question asking whether free trade implies
unrestricted access to each country’s water, oil and gas
reserves, our data reveal that a strong majority of Canadian
respondents (over 70%) either strongly or somewhat
disagree with this statement. A majority of Americans
(54%) also disagree (either strongly or somewhat) with this
interpretation of free trade. Approximately 20% of both
American and Canadian respondents agree (either strongly
or somewhat) with this view of free trade between Canada
and the United States. Notably, about 25% of American
respondents indicate no opinion on the question compared
to 11% of Canadians, which suggests that the understanding
of what free trade means is much more polarized in Canada.
Americans
Figure
9:
Free
Trade
Means
Unrestricted
Access
to
Resources
Finally, we consider the question of which country
respondents believe is doing a better job of managing the
economy (see Figure 8). Among Canadian respondents,
while 6% suggest that the US is doing a better job, about
two-thirds of respondents (67%) believe that Canada is doing
the better job in managing the economy – evidently implying
that their own country is outperforming the US. By contrast,
13% of American respondents feel that the US government
is doing the better job on the economy and 28% suggest that
it is Canada. A number of points can be made from this
comparison. In the first instance, Canadians overwhelmingly
think that their government is doing better than the US
government on the economy (67% versus 6%). Second and
importantly, on the whole American respondents believe
that the Canadian government is doing a better job than
their own government (28% versus 13%). Additionally, it
deserves mention that the majority of American respondents
answer that both countries are doing about the ‘same’ on
the economy. In sum, these results may suggest that, in the
minds of American respondents, the actions taken by the
Canadian government on the economy are appropriate.8 Free Trade
Free Trade is one of the defining issues of the CanadaUS relationship. Since the adoption of the Canada-US Free
Trade Agreement (FTA) in 1988, the pursuit of unbridled
trade relations between Canada and the US has been a
consistent feature of the relationship. Indicative of this
importance in the minds of citizens is the fact that 38% of
Canadian respondents and 31% of American respondents
respondents feel that Canada should do less on free trade
while only 2% of Americans think the same thing. By
contrast, a comparable percentage of respondents think that
Canada should do more on free trade – 41% of Canadians
and 44% of Americans. These results indicate marginally
more polarization within the Canadian sample with
respect to expectations of what Canada should be doing
on free trade. In the case of evaluations of the American
government, a comparable and relatively small number of
respondents in both countries feel that the US should do
less on free trade (5% of Canadians and 6% of Americans).
Of interest and importance is the finding that a significantly
Figure
9:
Free
Trade
Means
Unrestricted
Access
to
greater percentage of Canadians
(70%) than Americans
Resources
(52%) believe that the US government should do more on
49%
the issue
of free trade. This result indicates a much greater
demand 29%
from Canadian respondents for the US government
26%
25%
22%
trade as compared to the demand for the
to do more on free
14%
15%
11%
more. Furthermore, it implies
Canadian government doing
5%
5%
that, in the minds of Canadians, there is a perception of
protectionism
insomewhat
US tradeno
opinion
relations with
Canada
and that
strongly
somewhat
strongly
agree
disagree
see this
disagree
agree
Canadians
as a problem. As less
than a majority of
Americans feel that theCanadians
Canadian
government should do
Americans
more, a parallel impression does not seem to exist.
49%
29%
22%
Figure
10:
Which
country
is
doing
a
better
job
on
free
trade?
26%
25%
65%
14%
15%
11%
48%
5%
5%
strongly
disagree
somewhat
disagree
no
opinion
somewhat
agree
strongly
agree
20%
15%
9%
Canadians
43%
Americans
US
NextFigure
10:
Which
country
is
doing
a
better
job
on
we consider the question of whether free trade
should mean unrestrictedfree
trade?
access to water, oil and gas,
65%
similar patterns of opinion emerge. Canadians more often
48%
disagree with (87% to 64%)
and have an opinion
(5% to
43%
17% having no opinion) on this statement when compared
to Americans. Collectively, these results indicate 20%
a greater
15%
wariness9%
on the
part of Canadians than Americans to create
unfettered access to key natural resources within North
America butUS
also that there isSame
general agreement
on the
Canada
parameters of free trade on both sides of the border. The
Canadians
Americans
differences in the findings
perhaps
relate to Canadian fears of
losing political control over important and valuable
resource commodities. Given the understanding that Americans and
Canadians have on the meaning of free trade between these
two countries, how do respondents evaluate the actions,
influence and performance of Canadian and American
governments on this issue? Looking first at evaluations of
the Canadian government performance, 12% of Canadian
Same
Canadians
Canada
Americans
Relatedly, we observe interesting patterns when we
consider which country is perceived as doing a better job
on the issue of free trade (Figure 10). Among Canadians,
48% think both governments are doing the same, compared
to 65% of Americans. However, when it comes to those
respondents who actually indicate one country over
the other, Canada is chosen by a greater percentage of
respondents in both countries. More respondents (43% of
Canadians and 20% of Americans) believe that Canada is
doing a better job, compared to 9% of Canadians and 15% of
Americans who chose the US. We next turn our attention to the question of what level
of influence the other country is perceived to exert on policy
making in the area of free trade. If a majority of Canadians
want the US government to do more, and there is agreement
that the Canadian government has an edge in dealing with
the issue, might the Canadian government be able to have
11
12
CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
Figure
11:
InUluence
of
Other
Country
on
Free
Trade
Policy
61%
44%
31%
21%
20%
15%
3%
5%
not
at
all
not
much
Canadians
somewhat
a
lot
Americans
any effect? The data presented in Figure 11 suggest that, at
least in theFigure
12:
How
much
should
Canada
do
about
minds of Americans, this might be possible. Deimproving
border
security?
spite the differences in size of country and economy, 59% of
60%
Canada has somewhat or
American respondents believe
58%
that
a lot of influence on US free trade policy. Given the relatively
36%
small size of the Canadian economy and American
depen33%
dence on it, the extent of influence attributed to Canada on
free trade9%
is stunning. On
the other side of the border, and
5%
mirroring results observed for the issue of the economy, the
vast majorityless
of Canadians (92%)
same
respond that the
more
US has
either somewhat or a lot of influence on Canada’s policies reCanadians
Americans
garding free trade. Given the extent of dependence on access
to the US market for Canadian exports mentioned earlier,
this should not be seen as particularly surprising.
perception? We consider the issue of border security and
assess the extent to which Americans and Canadians have
similar views on this issue.
To re-iterate, approximately 25% of both American
and Canadian respondents identify border security as the
first or second most important issue facing the Canada-US
relationship. Beyond indicating this as an important issue,
what are the broad evaluations of government action on this
issue and is there demand for more to be done? Looking first
at evaluations of the Canadian government on this issue in
Figure 12, there is a surprising similarity in the distribution
of opinion between Canadian and American respondents. Figure
11:
InUluence
of
Other
Country
on
Free
Very few respondents inTrade
Policy
either country think that the
Canadian government should do less on border security (9%
61%
in Canada and 5% in the US). Similarly, virtually the same
44%
proportion of respondents in both countries
feel that Canada
31%
(33% in Canada and
should do more on border security
21%
of respondents in each country
36% in the20%
US). A majority
15%
(58% Canadian,
60%
American)
indicate their belief that
5%
3%
the Canadian government is doing just fine on the issue. not
at
all
somewhat
a
lot
Whatever
the naturenot
much
and extent of
Canadian initiatives
and
policy on border security,
it
is
clear
that
the
opinion
in
both
Canadians
Americans
countries regarding Canadian action is broadly consistent. Figure
12:
How
much
should
Canada
do
about
improving
border
security?
58%
60%
Border Security
Of the three policy issues relating to security that the
survey inquired about, the most important facing the USCanada relationship rated by respondents in both the US
and Canada was border security. While popularly referred
to as the ‘longest undefended border in the world’, the
security of that border has been under close scrutiny since
9/11. In particular, there has been controversy over whether
the lack of border security might have contributed to the
events of 9/11. Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland
Security, made comments in April of 2009 that suggested
terrorists who entered the United States did so by crossing
the Canadian border, prompting quick corrections and
rebuttals by the Canadian Ambassador and Members of the
Canadian Parliament (CBC News, April 21, 2009). With
the attempted Christmas Day bombing in 2009, renewed
fears over the security of borders between the two countries
have resurfaced. What is less clear, however, is how average
Americans and Canadians view border issues. The findings
of Eagles et al. (2009, 7) indicate that less than 10% of
Americans, but more than 20% of Canadians, feel that people
from the other country travelling into their own should be
“most thoroughly” questioned at the border. These numbers
are not high, but they do suggest that Canadians are more
wary of Americans than vice versa. Do our data confirm this
33%
9%
36%
5%
less
same
Canadians
more
Americans
This degree of consistency of views on Canadian action
is patently not observed for views on American border
security policy (see Figure 13). In the first instance, a small
number of American respondents (6%) respond that the
US government should do less on border security. Contrast
that with the views of 27% of Canadian respondents who
think that the US should do less on border security. On the
other end of the spectrum, 32% of Canadians suggest that
the US should do more on border security. The divide in
opinion on this issue becomes massive when considering
that 59% of Americans feel that more should be done by the
American government on border security. What drives this
difference is unclear. One possibility is that Americans are
more likely to have fresh in their minds the Christmas Day
bombing attempt and attribute those fears and concerns to
border security. Interestingly, it appears that this concern
for security is not rooted in a concern that security threats
are arising from lax Canadian policies. Clearly, despite what
Figure
13:
How
much
should
the
US
do
about
improving
border
security?
59%
41%
35%
27%
32%
6%
less
same
Canadians
more
Americans
politicians might say or suggest, the general American public
Figure
14:
How
much
should
Canada
do
about
does not see
Canada (or people coming from Canada) as a
protecting
the
environment?
threat.
76%
We turn next to perceptions of the influence of each
54%
country on the border security policies
of the other. Mirroring other policy areas, Canadian respondents
38%
see a
large influence of the United States on Canada. Over 90%
20%
of Canadian respondents
suggest that the US government
7%
4%
exerts somewhat or a lot of influence on Canada’s policy
making in the
security. By contrast,
less
area of bordersame
more
a
significant though much smaller proportion (almost 55%)
Canadians
Americans
of Americans think that Canada exerts somewhat or a lot of
influence
on US policy making in this area. Despite being
much smaller than the comparable number for Canadians,
the proportion of American respondents thinking that
Canada has influence is surprisingly high on an issue that
might be seen as deriving centrally from America`s post9/11 experience. The final question we consider on border security is
which country is doing a better job on the issue. Some very
interesting findings emerge. Among Canadian respondents,
31% believe that the US is doing a better job compared
to just 18% who think that Canada is doing a better job. This is the first issue we have examined where Canadians
respond that the US government is doing a better job than
their own government. Compare this with findings for US
respondents. Only 18% of American respondents think that
the US government is doing better – a number well below
the perception among Canadians of which government is
doing better. Additionally, 21% of American respondents
feel that Canada is doing the better job on border security. Perhaps, then, Americans do not see the Canadian border
as a concern because they perceive that Canada is doing a
better job than their own government on the issue.
Taken together these findings suggest some interesting
interpretations of government action on border security. Despite both American and Canadian respondents
attributing roughly the same importance to border security
as an issue facing the relationship, clear differences in
terms of opinion and expectation emerge. In the first
instance, regardless of a greater proportion of Canadians
than Americans who respond that the US should do less
on border security, Canadian respondents are more likely
to think that the US, not Canada, is doing a better job on
the issue. Second, US respondents seem to have a dim
view of their government’s performance on the issue. This
is evidenced by the fact that the majority of Americans
respond that their government should be doing more on
border security and that marginally more believe that
Canada is doing a better job. Finally, and in light of the
perceptions of influence that each country has on the other,
it seems as though there is recognition and acceptance
within the public that both countries can learn from the
other on this issue. Perhaps this sort of issue, so central
to the geographic proximity between the countries, is an
exemplar in the minds of the public of a two-way street.
Environment
Figure
13:
How
much
should
the
US
do
about
improving
border
security?
The environment is a policy field that can have great
59%
relevance at many levels. From local to regional to global
contexts, the condition of 41%
the environment and policies
35%
32%
relating27%
to it have continually grown in importance
around
the world. Geographic proximity and shared geological
6%
and environmental
spaces intricately tie Canada and the
US together on the issue. Whether it be air pollution in
less
same
waters or themore
common air
sheds, shared coastal
Great
Lakes region, the management
the environment is an
Canadians
of
Americans
integral aspect of the US-Canada relationship. Among our Figure
14:
How
much
should
Canada
do
about
protecting
the
environment?
76%
54%
38%
20%
7%
4%
less
same
Canadians
more
Americans
respondents, the environment ranked fourth as the most
important issue in Canada-US relations among Canadians,
and fifth among Americans. We now turn our attention to
assessing public opinion on the environmental issue.
We first consider whether our respondents think
the Canadian and US governments should do more,
less or about the same on the environment in Figure 14. Considering Canada first, very few Canadian and American
respondents (4% and 7%, respectively) indicate that Canada
should do less on the environment. However, American
and Canadian respondents differ greatly over whether
Canada should continue the effort being devoted to the
13
14
CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
environment or increase it. A small majority of American
respondents (54%) believe that Canada should continue
its current commitments to the environment and 38%
respond that Canada should do more on the environmental
issue. By contrast, an overwhelming number of Canadians
Figure
15:
How
much
should
the
US
do
about
protecting
the
environment?
80%
56%
27%
17%
18%
3%
less
same
Canadians
more
Americans
respondents (76%) favour more effort on the environment. Figure
16:
How
much
should
Canada
do
about
This represents
a clear
difference of perspective between
managing
energy
resources?
Americans and Canadians regarding the performance
and
75%
action of the Canadian government on the environment. 51%
on the environment
Views of US government action
43%
reflect a somewhat different trend, at least among American
respondents (see Figure 15). Starting
with Canadian
21%
respondents,
there
is
a
very
similar
distribution
of opinion
6%
4%
regarding the US government as for their own: about 3%
less
more
of
favour less government
actionsame
and a sizable majority
80% hold the position that
the
American
government
Canadians
Americans
should do more on the environment. By contrast, the
American
responses reflect a more differentiated view of
government action on the environment. 17% percent of
these respondents feel that the US government should do
less on the environment (an increase of 10% over the similar
sentiment for the Canadian government). Further, a small
majority (56%), but a majority nonetheless, respond that
the US government should do more on the environment. Taken together these findings suggest that Canadians do not
discriminate in their expectation for more to be done on the
environment while Americans tend to believe that it is only
their government that needs to do more.
The perceived influence of each country on the other’s
policy making in the area of the environment conforms to
the pattern we have already seen when assessing the other
policy areas. Canadians feel that the US exerts considerable
influence on Canadian environmental policy decisions- 41%
think the US has somewhat of an influence and 32% believe
that the US exerts a lot of influence. By contrast, 40% of US
respondents believe that Canada has somewhat (32%) or
a lot (8%) of influence on American policymaking on the
environment. While the Canadian result is expected, the
fact that so many US respondents think that Canada has
influence remains a surprising finding.
Our final consideration centres on the question of which
country respondents believe is doing a better job on the
environment. Given that citizens in both countries seem to
be calling for their governments to do more on the issue, do
they see the other country as a possible model to follow? In
comparison with their American counterparts, we find that
Canadian opinion is more differentiated on this question. In the first instance, slightly more Canadian respondents
(10%) believe that the US is doing a better job on the
environment than their American counterparts (8%). This
finding may reflect a softening of Canadian views with the
new administration of President Obama. At the same time,
almost 10% more Canadian respondents than American ones
(52% to 43%) feel that Canada is doing a better job on the
environment. Taking the results from all of the questions pertaining
to the environment into consideration, it appears that
respondents in both countries are generally expecting
more from their governments on the environmental issue
and that Canada appears to be doing a better job on the
environment in the eyes of many. Thus, the US does not
stand as an example for the Canadian government to follow,
nor does the Canadian government emerge as a definitively
positive example for the American government to follow. Nonetheless, our findings suggest there is demand for
positive action on the environment in both countries and
that working together on the environment may well be a key
aspect of the US-Canada relationship in the future.
Canadian and US governments are handling these issues.
We first consider views on whether the Canadian and
American governments should do more, less or about the
same on energy resources. When evaluating the Canadian
government on energy (see Figure 16), very few respondents
in either the US (6%) or Canada (4%) feel that Canada
should do less. While a plurality (and small majority) of
American respondents (51%) think that Canada should
do about the same, a clear difference emerges between
the countries in that only 21% of Canadian respondents
believe that Canada should maintain the status quo. The
vast majority of Canadian respondents (75%) respond that
Canada should do more on energy. Concern over protecting
and maintaining Canada’s energy resources seems to be an
important domestic issue.
Figure
17:
How
much
should
the
US
do
about
managing
energy
resources?
77%
20%
13%
71%
17%
3%
less
same
Canadians
more
Americans
Energy Figure
15:
How
much
should
the
US
do
about
Resources
protecting
the
environment?
The final substantive policy issue we consider
is energy
80%
resources. In a North American economy heavily dependent
56%
on non-renewable energy sources (such as oil or coal)
as well
as renewable ones (including nuclear power, hydroelectricity
27%
and increasingly
solar), sound policy and long17%
perhaps 18%
term vision
3%
is required. While our survey does not query
respondents about their relative and specific preferences for
less
same
different types
of energy sources
or the extent more
of concerns
Canadians
Americans
over dependence on foreign
sources,
we are able to speak to
general viewpoints on these issues and to views of how the
Figure
16:
How
much
should
Canada
do
about
managing
energy
resources?
75%
51%
43%
21%
6%
4%
less
same
Canadians
more
Americans
of each country on the energy resource policy of the
other. Consistent with patterns for other issues, Canadian
respondents tend to perceive significant influence of
the United States on Canada’s energy policy. Altogether
almost 80% of Canadian responses indicate that the US has
somewhat or a lot of influence on energy resource policy
in Canada. While not as great, almost 50% of Americans
attribute somewhat or a lot of influence to Canada on US
energy resource policy. Given the centrality of energy to the
American economy and way of life it is truly surprising to
find that Americans attribute as much influence to Canada
as they do. We expand more on this finding shortly. Finally, we consider evaluations of which country is
doing the better job on energy resource policy. Fewer than
10% of respondents in both the Canadian and US samples
believe that the US is doing the better job on energy. By
contrast, 59% of Canadians and 42% of Americans believe
that Canada is doing a better job on energy policy. In the
aggregate, more respondents believe that Canada is doing
the better job on energy, but given earlier responses most
also think that both countries should do more on energy. While the Canadian government is in a favoured position on
this issue it does not seem to imply overall satisfaction with
their action as much as being comparatively better than the
American government in the minds of our respondents.
The distribution of preferences is somewhat different
Figure
18:
Net
Demand
for
More
Government
for evaluations
of the American government (see Figure 17). Action
(Americans)
In the first instance, the positions of Canadian respondents
69%
evaluating the US government virtually mirror their
58%
53%
evaluations of the Canadian government:
very few feel the
46%
42%
42%
39%
US should do less (3%) and a large majority
of respondents
37%
31%
31%
(77%) believe that more should be done by the US on
energy. In contrast, more American respondents think that
less should be done on energy (13%) compared to their
collective
position
on the Border
Security
Canadian government
and
energy
Economy
Free
Trade
Environment
Energy
(6%). Most striking however, is the massive jump in the
Americans
on
Canada
Americans
on
US
proportion of American respondents who believe that the US
government should do more on energy compared to
their Canadian evaluations - fully 71% of US respondents
respond that their government should do more on energy
(compared to 43% who think the Canadian government
should do more). This increase could reflect two things:
first, Americans might have been less likely to take a
stronger position on Canadian policy because they did not
have much knowledge of Canada, and second, Americans
might believe that the US needs to do more on energy. Given the long-standing concerns over maintaining access
to oil, it seems plausible that Americans simply know much
less about the Canadian situation and see energy as a clear
domestic policy area.
We next consider perceptions of the relative influence
IV. Discussion
Our study has provided us with a unique opportunity
to map public opinion about the relationship between the
United States and Canada. Our findings suggest that citizens
on both sides of the border are largely satisfied with the
relationship as it exists, and that opinions are only slightly
affected by one’s familiarity with the other country. When
it comes to which issues facing the relationship are most
important, the responses in both countries are surprisingly
similar. In the section above, we delved into the meaning
behind the “most important issue” choices to understand
what it is that citizens think should be done on the issue,
by either government, which government is expected to be
more influenced, and which government is doing a better
job. Our findings are sometimes predictable and sometimes
surprising, but at all times informative. In this section, we comment on the implications
of those findings, as well as consider what it means for
Canadian-American relations in the broadest sense. We
commence by first considering what our results suggest
about demand for more government action on the five
most important issues facing the US-Canada relationship
before turning to assess aggregate measures of government
performance on these issues. Finally, we consider what our
study indicates about appropriate models for policy change.
We should reiterate that even though the domestic
politics in each country are unique, our data suggest that
15
20%
17%
13%
3%
16
CANADA U.S. less
INSTITUTE
same
Canadians
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
more
Americans
Figure
18:
Net
Demand
for
More
Government
Action
(Americans)
69%
58%
53%
42%
42%
46%
39%
31%
Economy
31%
Free
Trade
Border
Security
Environment
Americans
on
Canada
37%
Energy
Americans
on
US
opinion is differentiated by country. A greater number of
Canadians think that the US government should act on free
trade with Canada than think the Canadian government
should move on free trade with the US. On the issue of
border security, the pattern is reversed. The net percentage
of Canadians who think that the US should increase their
actions on border security is quite small compared to the
net percentage in favour of the Canadian government doing
more. What is particularly interesting is that Canadians
clearly are not shy about voicing strong opinions about
American policy choices, which is different than what the
American results seem to imply.
the issues that are seen as key to the relationship between
the United States and Canada are mostly similar. However,
there are real differences in terms of what citizens think
each government should do on each issue. To provide an
overall picture of citizen attitudes, we created summary
measures to indicate whether there was a net desire for more
or less action by each government on the issue. To do this,
we simply subtracted the percentage of individuals who
responded “do less” from those who responded “do more” for
each issue, in each country. The scores on these net measures
can theoretically go from 100% (if all respondents indicate
“do more” and none suggest “do less”) to -100% (if all
respondents indicate that government should “do less” and
none advocate “doing more”). The results are presented in
Figures 18 and 19, and suggest some real overall differences
between American and Canadian attitudes.
Turning first to the opinions of our American
respondents, we see in Figure 18 that for each issue the
net preference is for more action rather than less on the
part of both governments. Of the American government,
American citizens desire considerably more action on each
issue overall, especially the economy. This is not surprising
given the global importance of economic considerations at
the time the survey was conducted. In terms of American
opinion about what the Canadian government should do,
the results are less activist. It is interesting to note that while
net opinion favours doing more, the strength of the signal is
weaker than that for the American government. A greater
number of Americans think that the Canadian government
should pursue additional action rather than less on each of
these issues facing the American-Canadian relationship,
but in no case is the net American opinion greater in calling
upon the Canadian government rather than the American
government to do more.
Turning to Canadian opinion about government activity
on both sides of the border, Figure 19 shows a different
pattern than Figure 18. Canadian opinion on the actions of
both governments appears to be stronger on average. On the
economy, the environment and energy issues, a great many
Canadians are in favour of each government doing more. On the remaining two issues, free trade and border security,
Figure
19:
Net
Demand
for
More
Government
Action
(Canadians)
75%
79%
72%
65%
29%
77%
71%
74%
24%
5%
Economy
Free
Trade
Border
Security
Environment
Canadians
on
Canada
Energy
Canadians
on
US
Figure
20:
Net
Canadian
Advantage
­
Government
What about the performance
Activity
of each country? Which
country is perceived to be doing a better job of dealing
61%
with the issues identified as being most important 51%
to the
relationship? We 34%
again calculated a net42%
measure
from32%
the
34%
questions that
15%
asked which government was doing a better
3%
job on each issue. The5%
results, presented
in Figure 20, show
that the Canadian government is perceived as doing a better
‐13%
job on almost
when
compared
to the American
Economy
all issues
Free
Trade
Border
Security
Environment
Energy
one. Among Canadian respondents, the sense that the Canadian
Canadians
Americans
government is performing better on these key issues is clearly
evident
on all but border security, where the American
government
holds the balance of positive performance
evaluations. This result holds even among American
respondents,
who might be expected to favour their own
government. On
each issue, American respondents give
the
Canadian government the performance edge - with a
particularly
wide margin on the environment and energy
issues and a moderate gap on the economy. Taken together,
the aggregate results presented in Figures 18-20 suggest
that publics in both Canada and the United States favour
greater action on these issues and, on balance, prefer the
policy directions pursued by the Canadian government. A
key question thus arises – does the net Canadian advantage
imply that Americans expect their government to follow
the Canadian lead on these key issues for the cross-border
relationship?
Our data suggest that is not entirely the case. Even
though citizens on both sides of the border expressed
preferences for what the other government should do on
issues (Canadians more so than Americans) and there is
evidence to suggest that respondents in both countries
think the Canadian government is doing a better job than
the American one, our data indicate that, on balance,
American citizens are less likely than Canadians to think
that the other country has influence on policy choices. However, it is important to recall from the discussion
above that a solid proportion of Americans did perceive
the Canadian government as having some influence over
their own. Across these five issues, between 40% and 59%
of American respondents attribute somewhat or a lot of
influence to Canada. Much less surprising is the summary
finding that between 73% and 94% of Canadians ascribe
somewhat or a lot of influence to the US. Considering this
interpretation of the data alone, it seems that Americans
expect theirFigure
19:
Net
Demand
for
More
Government
government
to be somewhat influenced by the
Action
(Canadians)
Canadian government’s performance and actions. This is
77%
75%
79%
72%
directions
71%
74%
something
worth noting
as public policy
are being
65%
considered. The recent experience with the “Buy American”
29%
24%
bills reflect importantly on the
provisions in the US stimulus
5%
American policy decisions. nature of Canadian influence on
As a condition of the pivotal stimulus spending program
Economy
Free
Trade
Border
Security
Environment
Energy
initiated to pull the American economy out of recession,
Canadians
on
Canada
Canadians
on
US
US lawmakers likely
did not consider
the effects of the Buy
Figure
20:
Net
Canadian
Advantage
­
Government
Activity
61%
51%
42%
34%
34%
32%
15%
5%
Economy
3%
Free
Trade
‐13%
Border
Security
Environment
Canadians
Energy
Americans
American
provisions on the economic interests of Canadian
producers and manufacturers who work in relevant sectors. Certainly the program, as it was first introduced, seemed to
contradict
tenets of the Canada-US partnership. The strong
Canadian
response in opposition to these conditions by
both
government and industry ultimately brought attention
to the detrimental effects that these conditions would
pose on Canadian producers, the Canadian economy and
ultimately the US-Canada relationship. In response to the
Canadian outcry, US lawmakers amended and removed
these contentious conditions on stimulus monies. In our
estimation, this recent example perfectly highlights the
kind of influence of Canada on the US that our American
respondents identify. In light of this end result and the
influence attributed to Canada on American policy by our
respondents, it seems that an evident and important policy
implication of this finding is for lawmakers on both sides
of the border to always take into account the Canada-US
relationship. V.Conclusion
The findings of this study suggest a number of key
conclusions. Americans generally have a positive view
of the Canadian government and US relations with
Canada but are overall less personally integrated with
Canada than Canadians are with the United States. By
contrast, Canadians have a more differentiated view of
the US government and Canada’s relations with it. The
clear direction of opinion in both countries is for greater
government involvement on the most important issues
(the economy, free trade, border security, environment and
energy) facing the relationship. On these issues, the balance
of opinion in Canada and the United States is that the
Canadian government is out-performing the American one. Regardless of the distribution of these opinions or perhaps
because of them, Canadians overwhelmingly view the
United States as having a significant influence on the policies
directions chosen by the Canadian government. To our
surprise, many Americans also attribute important influence
to the Canadian government on US policy direction.
In terms of the existing literature on the Canada-US
relationship, our findings present an important update on
several issues. First, existing work stresses that Americans
are less aware of Canadians than vice versa (see, for
example, Lipset 1990; Sigler and Goresky 1974). The results
for social, economic and personal integration discussed
above are in line with this. Importantly, our findings also
indicate that attitudes toward integration are affected by
such awareness, similar to what Sigler and Goresky found
decades earlier. Inter-social experience remains a key
factor in understanding attitudes toward relations with the
other country. Second, our findings regarding attitudes
toward integration and free trade can be compared with
those of Inglehart et al. (1996). They found that Canadians
were more supportive of closer economic ties and free
trade than Americans. Our findings confirm that more
Canadians think the US should do more about free trade
than Americans, but also find that support for integration is
very similar – in both countries, a majority of citizens seem
satisfied with the status quo. Inglehart and his colleagues
comment that their findings were surprising in light of
nationalistic concerns about integration; our findings suggest
that perhaps Canadians have come to a new understanding
of what integration with the United States means. Although
17
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CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
there is a lot of support for free trade, a sizable minority also
express critical evaluations of integration, more so than in
the United States. Overwhelmingly, however, there seems
to be an expectation on both sides of the border that the
close relationship should continue in the future. Somewhat
relatedly, the results we have reported above also indicate
that attitudes among Canadians and Americans continue
to be differentiated when it comes to various aspects of the
cooperative relationship. While not surprising, this does
confirm that increased integration over the past 20 years has
not led to convergence in the two societies. This echoes the
findings of Adams (2003). Our results can also be compared to those of the Pew
Research Center for the People and the Press, which regularly
conducts surveys in the United States and internationally. According to Pew data, Canadians’ opinion of the United
States has improved since President Obama took office, but
most Canadians think the US economy is having a negative
impact on the Canadian economy.9 These results are in
keeping with those we have shown above – Canadians
hold more positive prospective evaluations of Canada-US
relations than retrospective evaluations, Canadians think the
US government should do more to help the economy, and
that the US government has a great deal of influence over the
actions of the Canadian government. Finally, our results are
also in keeping with those reported in America’s Place in the
World 2009, a joint effort of Pew and the Council for Foreign
Relations.10 Their data show that the image of Canada among
Americans has improved steadily since 2003, when 65% of
Americans expressed a favourable opinion of Canada. The
2009 results indicate that 84% of Americans now see Canada
favourably, more than for any other country studied. Thus,
the fact that our results show positive attitudes toward
Canada and relations with Canada is consistent with other
studies. As a final comment, and building on the core findings
of this report, a few policy implications present themselves. Our data suggest that policymakers and legislators in Canada
and the United States should be aware of what citizens feel
about Canada-US relations and take these into account when
negotiating policy. In Canada, citizens are watching closely
for such policy developments, and are ready to evaluate them
critically. Many Canadians have strong personal, social and
economic ties with the United States and these affect their
evaluations of government choices. On the other side of the border, one of the most
interesting findings in this study is that Americans seem to
expect the Canadian government to have influence over their
own. Coupled with a more positive evaluation of Canadian
government action and policy, the extent of influence
attributed to Canada may well indicate an important source
of policy direction and a comparative benchmark for
evaluation. If American policy-makers take note of public
opinion, as they have been shown to do in other instances
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
(see, for example, Kohut 2007) then following the Canadian
government’s lead on policies or at least considering their
positions and interests may be a wise choice. Clearly, the
Buy American experience mentioned previously reflects this
observation. Furthermore, Dobell (1974) shows that using
the Canadian experience as evidence in favour of policy
initiatives can be well-received among American legislators. Finally, we would stress the need for greater
communication with the public about the size, extent and
nature of the relationship between the United States and
Canada. Just as NBC prepared a “primer” on Canada to
air before the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver to make
Americans aware of just how close the two countries are, so
too should lawmakers consider enlisting public opinion by
arming citizens with greater information with which to form
realistic opinions about cross-border affairs. As President
Kennedy stated in 1961, nature forged the ties between
the two countries, and it is hard to imagine any situation
that might change that. At this point, how the relationship
evolves is the most important issue, and public opinion’s role
in influencing the direction of that evolution should not be
ignored. Notes
1.
Information drawn from Invest in Ontario, “Canada Is A
Trading Nation” (www.investinontario. com) and US Census
Bureau Foreign Trade Statistics, “Top Trading Partners – Total
Trade, Exports, Imports” (www.census.gov).
2.
Information drawn from Statistics Canada, Canada at a Glance
2009 and US Department of Commerce International Trade
Administration Manufacturing and Services Office of Travel
and Tourism Industries, 2007 United States Resident Travel
Abroad.
3.
Text of speech available from The American Presidency Project
(http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=8136). 4.
A search of the New York Times archives revealed very few
stories reporting about the Canada-US relationship. Prominent
among those that were found were reports of presidential and
prime ministerial visits to the other country, which inevitably
included a discussion of the countries’ relationship. An
example is the headline from February 5, 2001 - “Canada
Determined to Be First Neighbor to Bush” – in which Canadian
anxiety over losing priority in the eyes of George W. Bush to
Mexico is discussed.
5.
The data we examine in this paper come from an online
survey of 1002 Americans and 1002 Canadians conducted
by Harris Interactive. The study was restricted to those over
18 years of age and a citizen of their country. The Canadian
survey was conducted between January 29 and February 8
and the American survey was conducted between February
2 and February 8. The response rates were 14.3% (Canada)
and 7.2% (United States). Completion rates of those who
responded to the email invitation from Harris Interactive were
75.5% (Canadian survey) and 69.4% (American Survey). We
designed two comparable surveys of 130 questions which
were administered in each country (see the Appendix for the
wordings of the questions analyzed in this study). For our
purposes, the resulting dataset holds unparalleled value. The
data has a comparative advantage over most opinion data in
that the questions analyzed for this study were worded exactly
the same way in each survey. The surveys were also conducted
contemporaneously, thus avoiding the influence of external
events that may occur if surveys are conducted at different
times. Given the complexity and scope of the Canada-US
relationship, such events are not uncommon. Thus, our ability
to compare responses to questions across the two countries is
unusually strong.
6.
The difference in the response distributions for familiar and
non-familiar respondents is significant (p=0.0009) in Canada,
but not in the United States (p=0.3810). 7.
In this assessment, we consider the economy and classify related
domestic issues such as unemployment, gas prices and taxation
under the ‘economy’ label as well.
8.
Key differences commonly noted between the economic
regulation of Canada and the United States include tighter
regulation of the banking industry and more restrictive rules
on accessing and qualifying for mortgage lending, as well as
the relatively less burdensome debt and deficit position of the
Canadian government.
9.
Information taken from Wike (2009), available from
PewResearchCenter Publications website (http://pewresearch.
org/pubs). 10.
The report is available at http://people-press.org/reports/
pdf/569.pdf.
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CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
References
Appendix: Question Wordings
Adams, Michael. 2003. Fire and Ice: The United States, Canada and the Myth of Converging Values. Toronto: Penguin. How many family members and/or friends do you have who live in Canada/the United States? None, 1-5, 6-10, More than 10,
Prefer not to say
Dobell, Peter C. 1974. “The Influence of the United States Congress on Canadian-American Relations.” International Organization 28(4): 903-929. Eagles, Munroe, Nikita Nanos and Daniel Kolundzic. 2009. “The Public Opinion Environment for Canadian-American Relations: 20052009.” Paper presented at the Biennial Conference of Association for Canadian Studies in the United States, San Diego, November 18-21.
Erikson, Robert, Michael MacKuen and James Stimson. 2002. The Macro Polity. New York: Cambridge University Press.
How much time have you spent in Canada/the United States? Have never been, Visited once, Visited occasionally, Visited
frequently, Lived there for a time, Prefer not to say
To what extent do you think your household income is dependent upon trading or business relations with Canada/the United
States? Very dependent, Somewhat dependent, Not very dependent, Not at all dependent, Prefer not to say
Inglehart, Ronald F., Neil Nevitte and Miguel Basañez. 1996. The North American Trajectory. New York: Aldine De Gruyter. How would you describe relations between Canada and the United States? Like family, Best of friends, Friends, but not close, Acquaintances, Unfriendly, Openly hostile, Prefer not to say
Kohut, Andrew. 2007. “Polls.” In The Politics of News: The News of Politics 2nd Ed., ed. Doris A. Graber, Denis McQuail, and Pippa Norris. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press.
Do you think relations between Canada and the US have gotten better, worse or stayed about the same in the past 5 years? Better, Worse, Stayed about the same, Prefer not to say
Lipset, Seymour Martin. 1990. Continental Divide. New York: Routledge.
Do you think relations between Canada and the US will get better, worse or stay about the same in the next 5 years? Better,
Worse, Stay about the same, Prefer not to say
Richter, Andrew. 2009. “Permanent Allies? The Canada-US Defence Relationship in the 21st Century.” Journal of Military and Strategic
Studies 12(1): 1-37. Sigler, John H. and Dennis Goresky. 1974. “Public Opinion on United States-Canadian Relations.” International Organization 28(4): 637668.
Soroka, Stuart and Christopher Wlezien. 2004, “Opinion Representation and Policy Feedback.” Canadian Journal of Political Science 37(3):
531-560. Soroka, Stuart and Christopher Wlezien. 2009. Degrees of Democracy: Politics, Public Opinion and Policy. New York: Cambridge University
Press.
Stimson, James. 2004. Tides of Consent. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Wike, Richard. 2009. “U.S. Image Improves in Canada.” PewResearchCenter Publications, September 14. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1340. Accessed March 18, 2010.
Wlezien, Christopher. 1995. “The Public as Thermostat: Dynamics of Preferences for Spending.” American Journal of Political Science 39:
981-1000.
Generally speaking, do you think that Canadian/American integration with the United States/Canada is a bad thing, neither
bad nor good, or a good thing? Bad, Neither bad nor good, Good, Prefer not to say
In the next 5 years, would you like to see political and economic ties between Canada and the United States become more
integrated, stay about the same or become less integrated? More integrated, Stay about the same, Less integrated, Prefer not to
say
In your opinion, please rank the following policy issues or areas in terms of importance to Canada-US relations from the most
important issue (1) to the least important (9). Border Security, Free Trade, The environment, Energy resources, Health care,
The economy, The business climate, The war on terror in Afghanistan, The war on terror in Iraq
Of the following, which do you think is the most important issue facing Canada today? The economy, Unemployment,
Gas prices, Environmental issues, Health care, Social or moral issues, Terrorism, Foreign policy issues, Crime, Energy,
Immigration, Racism/discrimination, Inequality, Canada - US relations, Government spending/deficit, Education, Taxes,
Other, Prefer not to say
Of the following, which do you think is the most important issue facing the United States today? The economy,
Unemployment, Gas prices, Environmental issues, Health care, Social or moral issues, Terrorism, Foreign policy issues, Crime,
Energy, Immigration, Racism/discrimination, Inequality, Canada - US relations, Government spending/deficit, Education,
Taxes, Other, Prefer not to say
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CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE
Do you think the Canadian government should do more, do less, or do about the same as now about...
Government
should do more
Government
should do less
Government should Prefer
do about the same not to say
Improving border security
Increasing free trade globally
Increasing trade with the US
Protecting the environment
Managing energy resources
Improving healthcare
Improving the economy
Limiting immigration
Eliminating racism/
discrimination
Promoting equality
Improving the business
climate
Reducing crime
Winning the war on terror in
Afghanistan
Winning the war on terror in
Iraq
Do you think the Americaan government should do more, do less, or do about the same as now about...
Government
should do more
Improving border security
Increasing free trade globally
Increasing free trade with
Canada
Protecting the environment
Managing energy resources
Improving healthcare
Improving the economy
Limiting immigration
Eliminating racism/
discrimination
Promoting equality
Improving the business
climate
Reducing crime
Winning the war on terror in
Afghanistan
Winning the war on terror in
Iraq
Government
should do less
Government should Prefer
do about the same not to say
%
&#
%(# %## # $%
MOVING CLOSER OR DRIFTING APART?
%(# %## # #"
To what extent
you think that *
the&%%%%/#
Canadian/American government’s actions '#%.$%
on each of the following
policy do
(%)%%
$ areas are influenced
the American/Canadian
government? A lot, somewhat, not much, or
not at all?
% by(!
*#$#&*%#/
'#%-
%+
$ (%+ %&+ # %%-
%
(%
%& %% ## %
% $*
##$&#%*
#%#
'# %
#*#$ &#$
%#
*
#% $/$#% # %"&%*
&$$$%
#
(# %## #$% (# %## ##"
% ($$&$+!$%( &%#** &%$ %%#
,
On each of the following issues, please indicate which
country
you think is doing
better job. ## %% $*
%%%$
% a &%%$
##$&#%*
Canada
#%#
United
States Both about the same Prefer not to say
Border
security
'#
%
#*#$
&#$
Free
trade
%#
The
environment
resources
*
Energy
#% Healthcare
$/$#% The economy
10
Immigration
Racism/discrimination
Promoting equality
The business climate
Crime
The war on terror in Afghanistan
The war on terror in Iraq
23
About
Aboutthe
theAuthors
Authors
Cameron D. Anderson
Cameron D. Anderson
Cameron D. Anderson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at The University of Western Ontario. Cameronhis
D.PhD
Anderson
is an
AssistantinProfessor
the Department
of Political
Scienceofatscholarly
the University
Westernthe
He completed
at McGill
University
2005. Hisinwork
has been published
in a number
journalsofincluding
Ontario. He
completed
his
PhD
at
McGill
University
in
2005. His
work
has
been
published
in
a
number
of
scholarly
journals
American Journal of Political Science, the Canadian Journal of Political Science, Electoral Studies and Acta Politica. Additionally,
he
including
the
American
Journal
of
Political
Science,
the
Canadian
Journal
of
Political
Science,
Electoral
Studies
and
Acta
is a co-editor (with Laura B. Stephenson) of a forthcoming book (published by UBC Press) entitled Voting Behaviour in Canada. His
Politica. Additionally,
is relationship
a co-editor (with
Laura B.
Stephenson)
of a forthcoming
(published
by UBC
Press) entitled
research interests includehethe
of economic
conditions
and electoral
outcomes, book
perceptions
of political
representation
and
Voting
Behaviour
in
Canada. His
research
interests
include
the
relationship
of
economic
conditions
and
electoral
outcomes,
direct democracy and the role of information and sophistication in mediating public opinion. perceptions of political representation and direct democracy and the role of information and sophistication in mediating public
opinion. Laura B. Stephenson
Laura
Stephenson
LauraB.
B. Stephenson
is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at The University of Western Ontario. In
2003, she completed her PhD at Duke University. Her work has appeared in several journals, such as Electoral Studies, Political
Laura B.
is an
Assistant
Professor
in the Department
of Political
Science atbook
the University
Ontario. Psychology
andStephenson
the Canadian
Journal
of Political
Science. She
is also co-editor
of a forthcoming
(publishedof
byWestern
UBC Press),
In
2003,
she
completed
her
PhD
at
Duke
University. Her
work
has
appeared
in
several
journals,
such
as
Electoral
Studies,
Voting Behaviour in Canada (with Cameron D. Anderson). Her current research projects include studying the links between electoral
Political
Psychology
andand
thevoting
Canadian
Journal
of Political
Science. She
is cross-national
also co-editorvoting
of a forthcoming
book
(published
systems, party
strategies
behavior;
the effects
of party
label cues on
behavior; and
partisanship
in by
UBC
Press),
Voting
Behaviour
in
Canada
(with
Cameron
D.
Anderson). Her
current
research
projects
include
studying
the
Canada.
links between electoral systems, party strategies and voting behavior; the effects of party label cues on cross-national voting
behavior; and partisanship in Canada.
4
CANADA U.S. INSTITUTE